Betsy Richter's presentation about the birth of OurPDX Network, given on 9/27/08 at WordCamp Portland

2. And on the eighth
day...

3. And on the eighth
day...
...there was blog.

4. And on the eighth
day...
...there was blog.

5. e n th
t
And on the eighth
day...
...there was blog.

6. e n th
t
And on the eighth
day...
...there was blog.
( *sorry, I can’t count...)

8. Day One: Genesis

9. Day One: Genesis

10. Day One: Genesis
To-do list: Ummm, build a blog? Configure a
blog? Pick a theme? Yeah, that...

11. Day One: Genesis
To-do list: Ummm, build a blog? Configure a
blog? Pick a theme? Yeah, that...
Today’s motto: Sure, why not build yet
another blog...?

12. Day One: Genesis
To-do list: Ummm, build a blog? Configure a
blog? Pick a theme? Yeah, that...
Today’s motto: Sure, why not build yet
another blog...?

13. Day One: Genesis
To-do list: Ummm, build a blog? Configure a
blog? Pick a theme? Yeah, that...
Today’s motto: Sure, why not build yet
another blog...?

14. Day One: Genesis
To-do list: Ummm, build a blog? Configure a
blog? Pick a theme? Yeah, that...
Today’s motto: Sure, why not build yet
another blog...?

15. Day One: Genesis
To-do list: Ummm, build a blog? Configure a
blog? Pick a theme? Yeah, that...
Today’s motto: Sure, why not build yet
another blog...?

16. Day One: Genesis
To-do list: Ummm, build a blog? Configure a
blog? Pick a theme? Yeah, that...
Today’s motto: Sure, why not build yet
another blog...?

17. Day One: Genesis
To-do list: Ummm, build a blog? Configure a
blog? Pick a theme? Yeah, that...
Today’s motto: Sure, why not build yet
another blog...?

18. Day One: Genesis
To-do list: Ummm, build a blog? Configure a
blog? Pick a theme? Yeah, that...
Today’s motto: Sure, why not build yet
another blog...?

20. Day Two: Sky

21. Day Two: Sky

22. Day Two: Sky
To-do list: Pick a domain name. Register a
domain name. Or two. Or three. Or more...!

23. Day Two: Sky
To-do list: Pick a domain name. Register a
domain name. Or two. Or three. Or more...!
Today’s motto: Don’t name the baby Aloysius

25. Day Three: Earth

26. Day Three: Earth

27. Day Three: Earth

28. Day Three: Earth
To-do list: Now that you’ve got a skeleton and a
name, get some authors already.

29. Day Three: Earth
To-do list: Now that you’ve got a skeleton and a
name, get some authors already.
Today’s motto: Talk, Talk, Talk

31. Day Four: Heavens

32. Day Four: Heavens

33. Day Four: Heavens
To-do list: Set crazy goals. Find more authors.
Pressure your friends and co-workers.

34. Day Four: Heavens
To-do list: Set crazy goals. Find more authors.
Pressure your friends and co-workers.
Today’s motto: It’s who you know...and the
sky is the limit!

36. Day Five: Creatures

37. Day Five: Creatures

38. Day Five: Creatures
To-do list: Configure, configure, configure.
Themes, plugins, spam protection, etc. etc. etc.

39. Day Five: Creatures
To-do list: Configure, configure, configure.
Themes, plugins, spam protection, etc. etc. etc.
Today’s motto: Should have installed
Maintenance Mode!

41. Day Six: Food

42. Day Six: Food

43. Day Six: Food

44. Day Six: Food

46. Day Seven: Rest? Hah!

47. Day Seven: Rest? Hah!

48. Day Seven: Rest? Hah!
To-do list: All those empty pages with
placeholder text? Fill them ASAP...

49. Day Seven: Rest? Hah!
To-do list: All those empty pages with
placeholder text? Fill them ASAP...
Today’s motto: It’s about the content, stupid -
not the plugins!

51. Day Eight:

52. Day Eight:
To-do list: Freaking out of control!

53. Day Eight:
To-do list: Freaking out of control!
Configuring stats packages.

54. Day Eight:
To-do list: Freaking out of control!
Configuring stats packages.
Getting RSS feeds optimized, site listed.

55. Day Eight:
To-do list: Freaking out of control!
Configuring stats packages.
Getting RSS feeds optimized, site listed.
Waaay too much time messing with CSS
and theme configurations.

56. Day Eight:
To-do list: Freaking out of control!
Configuring stats packages.
Getting RSS feeds optimized, site listed.
Waaay too much time messing with CSS
and theme configurations.
Configuring email accounts.

57. Day Eight:
To-do list: Freaking out of control!
Configuring stats packages.
Getting RSS feeds optimized, site listed.
Waaay too much time messing with CSS
and theme configurations.
Configuring email accounts.
Teaching authors WordPress via email.

58. Day Eight:
To-do list: Freaking out of control!
Configuring stats packages.
Getting RSS feeds optimized, site listed.
Waaay too much time messing with CSS
and theme configurations.
Configuring email accounts.
Teaching authors WordPress via email.
Setting up publicity for “official launch.”

59. Day Eight:
To-do list: Freaking out of control!
Configuring stats packages.
Getting RSS feeds optimized, site listed.
Waaay too much time messing with CSS
and theme configurations.
Configuring email accounts.
Teaching authors WordPress via email.
Setting up publicity for “official launch.”
Blah. Blah. Blah. Blah.

60. Day Eight:
To-do list: Freaking out of control!
Configuring stats packages.
Getting RSS feeds optimized, site listed.
Waaay too much time messing with CSS
and theme configurations.
Configuring email accounts.
Teaching authors WordPress via email.
Setting up publicity for “official launch.”
Blah. Blah. Blah. Blah.
Moral of the story: I’m spending the first
kid-free Saturday in a month doing *this*?

61. Day Eight:
To-do list: Freaking out of control!
Configuring stats packages.
Getting RSS feeds optimized, site listed.
Waaay too much time messing with CSS
and theme configurations.
Configuring email accounts.
Teaching authors WordPress via email.
Setting up publicity for “official launch.”
Blah. Blah. Blah. Blah.
Moral of the story: I’m spending the first
kid-free Saturday in a month doing *this*?
Hell, yeah....!

62. Day Eight:
To-do list: Freaking out of control!
Configuring stats packages.
Getting RSS feeds optimized, site listed.
Waaay too much time messing with CSS
and theme configurations.
Configuring email accounts.
Teaching authors WordPress via email.
Setting up publicity for “official launch.”
Blah. Blah. Blah. Blah.
Moral of the story: I’m spending the first
kid-free Saturday in a month doing *this*?
Hell, yeah....!

63. Day Eight: by
Blog
Bourbon
To-do list: Freaking out of control!
Configuring stats packages.
Getting RSS feeds optimized, site listed.
Waaay too much time messing with CSS
and theme configurations.
Configuring email accounts.
Teaching authors WordPress via email.
Setting up publicity for “official launch.”
Blah. Blah. Blah. Blah.
Moral of the story: I’m spending the first
kid-free Saturday in a month doing *this*?
Hell, yeah....!

65. Day Nine: Almost There

66. Day Nine: Almost There

67. Day Nine: Almost There
To-do list: Know what you’re NOT good at.

68. Day Nine: Almost There
To-do list: Know what you’re NOT good at.

69. Day Nine: Almost There
To-do list: Know what you’re NOT good at.
Today’s Motto: Maybe I should switch to whiskey...

71. Day Ten: Finally!

72. Day Ten: Finally!

73. Day Ten: Finally!
To-do list: Spam your friends and family,
register with every site around, etc.

74. Day Ten: Finally!
To-do list: Spam your friends and family,
register with every site around, etc.
Today’s motto: Tell the world!

76. Our New Baby!

77. Our New Baby!

79. Ten Commandments from
the OurPDX authors

80. Ten Commandments from
the OurPDX authors
• Thou shalt bloggeth what
you knoweth

81. Ten Commandments from
the OurPDX authors
• Thou shalt bloggeth what
you knoweth
• Thou shalt always read each
other’s posts

82. Ten Commandments from
the OurPDX authors
• Thou shalt bloggeth what
you knoweth
• Thou shalt always read each
other’s posts
• Thou shalt respect those
who call ‘dibs’ on posts

83. Ten Commandments from
the OurPDX authors
• Thou shalt bloggeth what
you knoweth
• Thou shalt always read each
other’s posts
• Thou shalt respect those
who call ‘dibs’ on posts
• Thou shalt always give
credit where credit is due

84. Ten Commandments from
the OurPDX authors
• Thou shalt bloggeth what
you knoweth
• Thou shalt always read each
other’s posts
• Thou shalt respect those
who call ‘dibs’ on posts
• Thou shalt always give
credit where credit is due
• Thou shalt comment,
comment, comment

85. Ten Commandments from
the OurPDX authors
• Thou shalt bloggeth what • Thou shalt not judge a value
you knoweth of a post by the number of
comments it generates
• Thou shalt always read each
other’s posts
• Thou shalt respect those
who call ‘dibs’ on posts
• Thou shalt always give
credit where credit is due
• Thou shalt comment,
comment, comment

86. Ten Commandments from
the OurPDX authors
• Thou shalt bloggeth what • Thou shalt not judge a value
you knoweth of a post by the number of
comments it generates
• Thou shalt always read each
other’s posts • Thou shalt not obsess about
page views. (Just worry
• Thou shalt respect those about content.)
who call ‘dibs’ on posts
• Thou shalt always give
credit where credit is due
• Thou shalt comment,
comment, comment

87. Ten Commandments from
the OurPDX authors
• Thou shalt bloggeth what • Thou shalt not judge a value
you knoweth of a post by the number of
comments it generates
• Thou shalt always read each
other’s posts • Thou shalt not obsess about
page views. (Just worry
• Thou shalt respect those about content.)
who call ‘dibs’ on posts
• Thou shalt not link every
• Thou shalt always give post back to your own blog
credit where credit is due
• Thou shalt comment,
comment, comment

88. Ten Commandments from
the OurPDX authors
• Thou shalt bloggeth what • Thou shalt not judge a value
you knoweth of a post by the number of
comments it generates
• Thou shalt always read each
other’s posts • Thou shalt not obsess about
page views. (Just worry
• Thou shalt respect those about content.)
who call ‘dibs’ on posts
• Thou shalt not link every
• Thou shalt always give post back to your own blog
credit where credit is due
• Thou shalt not ever pick
• Thou shalt comment, fights with your co-authors.
comment, comment

89. Ten Commandments from
the OurPDX authors
• Thou shalt bloggeth what • Thou shalt not judge a value
you knoweth of a post by the number of
comments it generates
• Thou shalt always read each
other’s posts • Thou shalt not obsess about
page views. (Just worry
• Thou shalt respect those about content.)
who call ‘dibs’ on posts
• Thou shalt not link every
• Thou shalt always give post back to your own blog
credit where credit is due
• Thou shalt not ever pick
• Thou shalt comment, fights with your co-authors.
comment, comment
• Thou shalt not engage with
the asshats

91. My thanks to...

92. My thanks to...
• Our 17 Authors

93. My thanks to...
• Our 17 Authors
• Our 270
commenters (and
their more than
1000 comments)

94. My thanks to...
• Our 17 Authors
• Our 270
commenters (and
their more than
1000 comments)
• The 230 RSS
subscribers

95. My thanks to...
• Our 17 Authors
• Our 270
commenters (and
their more than
1000 comments)
• The 230 RSS
subscribers
• The 103 Twitter
followers

96. My thanks to...
• Our 17 Authors • Aaron Hockley
• Our 270
commenters (and
their more than
1000 comments)
• The 230 RSS
subscribers
• The 103 Twitter
followers

97. My thanks to...
• Our 17 Authors • Aaron Hockley
• Our 270 • Guilty Carnivore
commenters (and
their more than
1000 comments)
• The 230 RSS
subscribers
• The 103 Twitter
followers

98. My thanks to...
• Our 17 Authors • Aaron Hockley
• Our 270 • Guilty Carnivore
commenters (and
their more than • Janet Tingey
1000 comments)
• The 230 RSS
subscribers
• The 103 Twitter
followers

99. My thanks to...
• Our 17 Authors • Aaron Hockley
• Our 270 • Guilty Carnivore
commenters (and
their more than • Janet Tingey
1000 comments)
• Jason Grigsby
• The 230 RSS
subscribers
• The 103 Twitter
followers

100. My thanks to...
• Our 17 Authors • Aaron Hockley
• Our 270 • Guilty Carnivore
commenters (and
their more than • Janet Tingey
1000 comments)
• Jason Grigsby
• The 230 RSS
subscribers • Justin Tadlock
• The 103 Twitter
followers

101. My thanks to...
• Our 17 Authors • Aaron Hockley
• Our 270 • Guilty Carnivore
commenters (and
their more than • Janet Tingey
1000 comments)
• Jason Grigsby
• The 230 RSS
subscribers • Justin Tadlock
• The 103 Twitter • My kids, Z Rex and
followers The Mogul

102. My thanks to...
• Our 17 Authors • Aaron Hockley
• Our 270 • Guilty Carnivore
commenters (and
their more than • Janet Tingey
1000 comments)
• Jason Grigsby
• The 230 RSS
subscribers • Justin Tadlock
• The 103 Twitter • My kids, Z Rex and
followers The Mogul

103. My thanks to...
• Our 17 Authors • Aaron Hockley
• Our 270 • Guilty Carnivore
commenters (and
...and all of•you!
their more than Janet Tingey
1000 comments)
• Jason Grigsby
• The 230 RSS
subscribers • Justin Tadlock
• The 103 Twitter • My kids, Z Rex and
followers The Mogul